The Chameaux of Chinguetti

It's been an eventful two days to say the least, and also very tiring. We've been learning a lot about how things work in africa, and how they don't.

On Friday morning we made our way over to Garage Chinguetti. In Mauritania they have these places where taxis all meet to take people where they want to go, since there is no public transport. We had to travel 40kms from Atar to the desert settlement of Chinguetti. The road is entirely gravel, or piste, and is usually traveled by SUV's, and pick-ups. We arrived at the garage at 9am. In Mauritania you're told that the vehicle is going to leave asap, but of course it dosen't go until all possible space is filled with people. In a car this means 4 in the back seat, and two in the front, plus the driver. We've learned this already so we decided we'd ride in the back of the truck. We knew it would be much cooler, less squished and also a bit cheaper. At 10am we were told the truck was going to get diesel. It finally returned at 11am and we realized that the truck had not gone to get diesel in it's own tank, but to get two 45gal drums of diesel which it would bring to Chinguetti, and which we would sit upon. They then proceeded to load the back of the truck up with boxes and boxes of produce and things like canned goods and cupcakes. Most of which would be unsellable by the time it arrived, due to the way it was loaded. All food, except perhaps meat, needs to be brought in Chinguetti since it is in the middle of the desert and they grow nothing. On that note, actually all of the produce in Mauritania is brought in from either Senegal or Morocco.

It's been quite interested to see they way all of the produce is handled here, and all the times it must be moved before it gets to the little villages. You see it moved by donkey and by pickup and then by donkey another time or two. It wasn't in nice shape by the time it got to Chinguetti. Except for the trucks bringing clementines from Morocco, nothing is transported in reefers.

Anyway, back to our ride. Just before climbing on top off all of the stuff, I noticed a huge slice in the sidewall of one of the rear tires. Since this little very beat up 4wd Toyota was already very badly over loaded, I knew there was no way this thing was going to make it on that tire. Erin and I were already getting frustrated by how long the process was taking and weren't to excited at having a tire blow in the middle of nowhere, on top of an over loaded, undersized, pickup. So I showed the tire to the driver and asked for our money back and we planned to take another truck. He simply bent low and pointed at the spare under the truck, "regarde", he told me. Rather than wait who knows how long for another truck, Erin and I decided to risk it and go.

By the time we were rolling it was noon. It was a beautiful drive as we climbed out of the valley on top of a mountain plateau. It was quite dusty but we really were quite comfy on top of all of Chinguetti's tomatoes. After about an hour we just admiring the scenery when the tire blew. It wasn't to dramatic but we slid around a bit before the driver got control and brought us to a stop. Amazingly the spare tire had air and the driver had tools, and we were on our way again in about 15 mins. After about another 5 mins the spare blew-out as well. Erin and I were preparing to walk the last 7 kms or so when the driver said he could fix it. I wasn't sure how until I saw him pull out a tube from behind the seat alond with a bicycle pump. He also got out the tools to remove the tire from the rim, which to my surprise were bias-ply. Which I'm quite sure are illegal on cars in most parts of the world. When he got the tire off the rim I wasn't surprised that it blew. To give us a little better chance of making it, I suggested he remove the other 3 old tubes that were inside the tire before he insert the new tube, which was also covered in no less than 5 patches. We got the tube in and put a little boot over the gaping hole in the tire. After much pumping we got on our way and made it the final distance. I'm not sure if the driver tried to go back on that tire, but I'm sure it wouldn't have made it.

We then had only a short afternoon in the small town of 2000-3000 people. We explored the old city, and spent most of our time exploring and admiring the beauty of the huge dunes. We really love them, and know we may not ever get a chance to see something like it again.

We had a really good dinner of Lamb Tagine (potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, squished tomatoes and lamb) over spaghetti believe it or not, and then spent some time looking at the stars. The sky out it the desert away from any light is amazing, and a very different sky than at home.

This morning our "Auberge" host told us that he could have to pickup pick us up right where we were staying at 9am. We reluctantly aggreed, but were amazed when it showed up by 9:05am. This is the first time something has happened on schedule. After picking up some locals we were on our way and made it to Atar in 1.5hrs, much quicker than our 3.5 hrs tire blowing ride the day before. The driver then brought us to a seudo Garage Nouakchott, where his friend was waiting with a crappy station wagon which he planned on putting 9 people in. We realized this was not the actual taxi garage so we left and found it quickly. We then got a really quick ride in an old Mercedes and were on our way to NKC. It was a really sweaty ride again but we had a slow but safe driver. We also had and over sized veiled woman in the back with us, who was chanting something and swinging some beads around for the entire trip. We assumed it was some sort of witch craft, which is common here, so we prayed against it. She continued but all went well.

Well, we have now arrived back at our friends house, and downed some rotisserie chicken, and fries. It's nice to be in a bigger city where you can get some decent food, but that's about as good as it gets here. Our friends are away until tomorrow night, but they've been gracious to allow us to stay here. We plan to go to a bakery for breakfast and then spend some time on the beach tomorrow, if we can find a place sans garbage. Then we fly to Egypt at 3am Monday morning.

Mauritania has been great! But, we're looking forward to moving on. We can't belive we've been here 3 weeks alreay! Here's the pictures we promised. Enjoy!

The happy backpackers!

These things are huge!

Desert beauty.

Erin checking out some old construction in Chinguetti.

One of the many chameaux in Chinguetti.

Perhaps this is where our driver would get a "good" tire in Chinguetti.

Some old brick construction in Atar.

A view on the way to Atar.

Erin and I looking good while enjoying a traditional meal of fish and rice, Mauritanian style.

Check out the way they're moving this old vehicle!

Meat anyone?

Erin, and our friend in the dunes close by NKC.

One of the places we stopped to pray on the road to NKC.

A hot chick on the beach.

A ship in the boat cemetary.

Walking along the rail line in Nouadhibou.

The fishing port in Nouadhibou in the evening.

Erin and Juan, looking over the ocean in Dakhla.

A view of a school from the roof of our friends place.